WASHINGTON – For an inning, Aaron Nola looked like he might be able to survive without the command that’s been a hallmark of the success he’s had in his first 12 months in the big leagues.
He got Wilson Ramos looking at a fastball on the outer edge of the strike zone. Then staring at a hit-me 91-MPH pitch. And then Stephen Drew went down swinging.
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But striking out the side in the third inning wasn’t the turnaround to Nola’s 13th start of the season on a muggy Saturday afternoon in Washington. It was the exception to an otherwise shaky outing when the Nationals talented collection of bats chased the 23-year-old from the shortest start of his young major league career.
Drew, Michael Taylor, and all collected run-scoring singles off Nola in a four-run second inning as Washington rolled to an 8-0 win over the Phillies.
"I felt pretty wild," said Nola, whose veteran-like command of the strike zone saw him enter Saturday's game with the 10th lowest walk rate in all of baseball this season.
"My curveball was hanging up high," he continued. "They got some good swings on those- especially with two strikes. My two-seamers were running too much – I couldn’t control it much. I was getting behind guys and that was hurting me today
The Phillies have lost three in a row and 12 of their last 15 games since the beginning of Memorial Day weekend. In their current three-game skid, the Phillies have been outscored 25-7.
But manager Pete Mackanin didn't believe Saturday was another case of the Phils young pitching staff possibly coming back down to earth from an impressive first two months.
"I don’t think the hitters got to Nola, I think Nola just wasn’t in sync," Mackanin said. "I don’t think the hitters are figuring him out. Once again, if you make good pitches you’re going to win ... you’re going to be successful."
Tanner Roark would be one to know. He continued his ownership of the Phillies offense this season with seven shutout innings on Saturday.
The Phillies best opportunity to get something started off Roark came in the second, when Cody Asche and Cameron Rupp led off with back to back hits, a single and a double, and then never moved any further when reach of the next three hitters struck out.
"That kind of set the tone," Mackanin said, "and we just couldn't hit."
Roark is 2-0 with a 0.86 ERA in three starts against the Phils in 2016. He entered the season with a 6.91 ERA in seven career games vs. the Phillies.
"We've faced him this year – we faced them last year, a lot of these guys," Mackanin said. "At some point, we have to have a better plan."
Saturday afternoon may have marked just the third time this season the Phillies have been shut out, but they've scored one run or fewer in 15 of their 62 games so far (24 percent of their schedule) and have scored two runs or fewer in 24 of their games (39 percent).
The Phillies rank last in baseball in hitting (.230) and on-base percentage (.286). Even with the influx of new players (Tommy Joseph, Asche, Jimmy Paredes) the results, from a team standpoint, have been the same.
"You've been seeing my lineups," Mackanin said when asked if there was anything more he could do to improve the offense. "I've been dipsy-doodling every day. Is that a word? Not with the personnel I have, I don't believe. I've tried a lot of everything."
While Roark was the latest to make the Phils bats look limp, Nola looked off for most of his 3 2/3 innings, the shortest of the 26 starts of his career. He allowed at least one base runner each inning.
"There was something about his rhythm that just didn't look right," Mackanin said.
Nola entered the game with a 1.68 ERA in his previous nine starts, and, overall, a 2.65 ERA on the season (12th in the National League), a 0.99 WHIP (6th), and a 5.67 K-BB ratio (third). Only 13 NL pitchers had compiled more innings.
In that aforementioned nine-start run, Nola pitched seven innings five times and never went fewer than six in the other four games. So perhaps the kid who only joined the Phillies organization out of LSU two years ago this month is allowed the occasional mulligan.
• Tommy Joseph, who officially supplanted Ryan Howard as the team's starting first baseman on Friday, went 1-for-4, accounting for one of his team's seven hits. Joseph has reached base in eight consecutive games. He's hitting .429 (12-for-28) with four home runs over that stretch. Joseph's .981 OPS in 22 games this season ranks first among major league rookies with at least 50 plate appearances.
• Ryan Howard's return to the lineup will likely come on Monday – but not at Joseph's expense. The Phillies will play back-t-back games in Toronto, where the designated hitter will be in play. Mackanin said Howard would "probably" be his DH. The Phils will face back-to-back right-handers in Toronto: and Marcus Stroman.
• For the third straight day, the Phillies got the MLB draft started. The third and final day of the 40-round draft began with the Phillies selecting left-handed hitting outfielder out of Mater Dei (Calif.) High School. Baseball America had Stephen, a University of Southern California commit, as the 115th best prospect in the draft. Stephen is likely a tough sign if he didn't get selected until the 317th pick of the draft.
• Other Phillies selections from the final day of the draft include two more high schoolers after Stephen, right-handed pitchers Justin Miller (12th round) and (13th round), and two more players from Dallas Baptist University baseball roster, first baseman Darick Hall (14th round) and shortstop Camden Duzenack (23rd round). The Phillies selected outfielder out of Dallas Baptist with their sixth round selection on Friday. Chicago Cubs infielder/outfielder Ben Zobrist is a product of Dallas Baptist. Here is a complete look at the Phillies updated draft board.